Apparatus for assembling razor blade units

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for assembling a razor blade unit having two housing components and a blade component is disclosed. The housing components have cooperating housing alignment and blade alignment surfaces. The apparatus includes support structure for holding a first housing component, first clamp structure for applying an aligning force to a second housing component to place the cooperating housing alignment surfaces of the first and second housing components in engagement, second clamp structure for applying a clamping force to the housing components to clamp the blade components between the first and second housing components, securing structure for modifying a portion of at least one of the housing components for permanently securing the first and second housing components with interposed blade components together as a unit, and common drive structure for operating the first and second clamp structure and the securing structure in coordinated relation to align, clamp and secure the housing components to form the blade unit.

' [75] Inventor:

United States Patent 11 1 Sherman APPARATUS FOR 'ASSEMBLING RAZOR BLADE UNITS Everett L. Sherman, Lexington, Mass.

[73] Assignee: The Gillette Company, Boston,

Mass.

[22} Filed: June 29, 1972 [211 App]. No.: 267,521

Primary Examiner Thomas Eager Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Willis M. Ertman [451 Mar. 12, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for assembling a razor blade unit having two housing components and a blade component is disclosed. The housing components have cooperating housing alignment and blade alignment surfaces. The apparatus includes support structure for holding a first housing component, first clamp structure for applying an aligning force to a second housing component to place the cooperating housing alignment surfaces of the first and second housing components in engagement, second clamp structure for applying a clamping force to the housing components to clamp the blade components between the first and second housing components, securing structure for modifying a portion of at least one of the housing components for permanently securing the first and second housing components with interposed blade components together as a unit, and common drive structure for operating the first and second clamp structure and the securing structure in coordinated relation to align, clamp and secure the housing components to form the blade unit.

17 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures H8 I20 I22 APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING RAZOR BLADE UNITS SUMMARY OF INVENTION This invention relates to assembly apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for assembling components of a razor blade unit.

I It is a principal object of this invention to provide novel and improved apparatus for assembling components of a razor blade unit. Another object of the invention is to provide novel and improved apparatus for assembling components of a plural cutting edge shaving system in an economical, efficient and rapid manner.

It has long been desirable in the shaving field to provide a shaving system which provides both a very close shave and a safe shave. It has been discovered that a plural cutting edge shaving system in which certain geometrical relationships are maintained with accuracy provides superior shaving characteristics. This shaving system includes two cutting edges and a guard structure disposed in fixed, parallel and spaced relation to one another so that both cutting edges are successively active with respect to the cutting of a single hair element during a single shaving stroke. This geometry is established in a blade unit in which the blade elements are permanently secured in fixed relations to the guard structure. Still another object of the invention is to provide automated apparatus for assembling components of such a razor blade unit in an economical, efficient and rapid manner.

In accordance with the inventin, there is provided apparatus for assembling a blade unit having a plurality of housing components and a plurality of blade components. The housing components have cooperating housing alignment surfaces and blade alignment surfaces and the apparatus includes support structure for holding a first housing component, first clamp structure for applying an aligning force to a second housing component disposed on the first housing component with the blade components disposed between them to place the cooperating housing alignment surfaces of the first and second housing components in engagement, second clamp structure for applying a clamping force to the housing components to clamp the blade components between the first and second housing components, securing structure for modifying a portion of at least one of the housing components for permanently securing the housing components with interposed blade components together as a unit, and common drive structure for operating the first and second clamp structures and the securing structure in coordinated relation to align, clamp and secure the housing components to form the blade unit.

In a preferred embodiment the apparatus also includes blade alignment structure for urging the blade components against the blade alignment surfaces by applying fluid pressure to the blade components. The first clamp structure imposes the aligning force on the second housing component at an angle greater than 25 to the direction of application of clamping force imposed by the second clamp structure and includes means for imposing an initial aligning force of low magnitude to the second housing component and a subsequent clamping force of magnitude at least times the magnitude of the intial aligning force to the second housing component.

In a particular embodiment, one of the housing components has a plurality of apertures, the other housing component has a plurality of posts that extend through the apertures in the one housing component, and the securing structure includes means for deforming the posts in a cold heading operation to secure the housing components together. The second clamp structure and the securing structure are mounted for reciprocating movement along parallel paths and the second clamp structure includes a drive member, a clamping member and biasing means interposed between the drive and clamping members for resiliently urging them apart. The first clamp structure is mounted for reciprocating movement between first and second positions and includes a support member that has a seating surface, and a clamping member that is carried by the support member and movable relative thereto, and that has a clamp surface adapted to engage the second housing component and a second surface. A spring carried by the support member maintains the second surface spaced from the support member seating surface when the clamp structure is in said first position. The first clamp structure is movable to a position intermediate the first and second positions where the clamp surface is in engagement with the second housing component and the clamping member is shifted relative to the support member so that the spring applies an aligning force to the second housing component and to the second position where the clamping member is further shifted relative to the support member so that its second surface is in engagement with the seating surface and applies a subsequent clamping force to the second housing component.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be seen as the following description of a particular embodiment progresses, in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of ablade unit assembled in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of components of the blade unit shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a plan view of a system for assembling blade units of the type shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a nest unit employed 7 in the system shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view, with parts broken away, of the aligning and securing apparatus employed in the system shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an end view, with'parts borken away, of the apparatus shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective diagrammatic view of the prebiasing and clamping mechanism employed in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the position of components of the blade unit during an alignment operation in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 8 showing the configuration of the blade unit after the components have been secured together; and

FIG. 10 is a timing diagram indicating a sequence of operations of the assembly system shown in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENT The blade unit shown in FIG. 1 includes a base or platform member 10 molded of high impact polystyrene that includes depending coupling structure defined by flanges 12 and 14. The base includes a blade support surface 16 and a transversely extending guard structure 18 that is spaced forwardly of support surface 16 and connected to that surface by webs 20 that define a first row of slots 22. A second row of slots 24 (shown best in FIG. 2), are disposed parallel to the row of slots 22 and extend through platform 16. Disposed on platform 16 is a leading steel blade member 30 having a sharpened cutting edge 32, an aluminum spacer .member 34 having 2 series of triangular projections 36 formed'on its leading edge, and a follower steel blade member 38 having a sharpened cutting edge 40. A cap structure 42, also molded of high impact polystyrene, includes a cap surface 44 that extends transversely between end wall portions 46. The forward ends of portions 46 mate with corresponding projecting surfaces of end wall portions 48 of base 10.

Additional details of components of the blade unit may be seen with reference to the exploded view of FIG. 2, which shows the blade unit component in inverted relation, that is the cap structure 42 is at the bottom and the base is at the top of FIG. 2. As indicated in FIG. 2, base member 10 has a series of four apertures 50 which extend through the platform surface 16. Each end portion 48 of the base includes a vertical surface 52 which is adapted to engage a cooperating vertical alignment surface 54 of the cap 42. Recesses 56 are provided at the rear of the base member platform to facilitate blade alignment.

The leading and following blade elements 30, 38 are identical and each has a length of l inches, a width of 0.28 inch and a thickness of 0.004 inch. The front and rear edges of each blade are parallel, the front edge being sharpened to a shaving edge. Formed in each blade member are a series of four axially extending rectangular slots 62, each its inch long and 0.054 inch wide, and four irregularly shaped apertures 64. The base surface 65 of each aperture 64 is of the same length as each slot 62, the upper end of each aperture 64 is defined by a 0.046 inch radius surface 66, with one end of surface 66 aligned with and connected to the corresponding end of the base surface 65 by surface 67 and the other end of surface 66 connected to the other end of surface 65 by inclined surface 68. It will be noted that the bottom portion of each aperture 64 (defined by surfaces 65, a portion of surface 67 and surface 69) is of the same dimensions as slot 62.

Spacer 34, interposed between the blade elements 30 and 38, has a length of l )6 inches, a width of 0.24 inch and a thickness of 0.020 inch. Formed in the forward edge of spacer 34 are a series of recesses 70, each of which is 0.080 inch deep and about Vs inch long; and a series of spaced forwardly directed fingers 72, each of which culminates in a triangular tip portion 36. The spacer has holes 76 which are alignable with holes 50 in the base member 10 and holes 64 in the blade elements 30 and 38.

The cap member 42 includes four posts 80 that project 0.154 inch above planar surface 82. Each post has at its outer end a 0.038 inch diameter recess 84 that is 0.081 inch deep. The two inner posts 80 are spaced about a inch apart and each outer post is spaced about inch from the adjacent inner post. Each end wall portion 46 includes a forwardly projecting wing 86 on the forward surface of which is formed aligning surface 54 and on the rearward surface of which are formed a second aligning surface 88 which is engaged by the sharpened edge 32 of the leading blade 30, and a third aligning surface 90 which is engaged by the sharpened edge 40 of the trailing blade 38. Recesses 92 are alignable with recesses 56 in the base 10 and ridges 94 engage the upper blade member 38. Similar ridges are formed in the platform member portion 16 of the base 10.

In the assembly process, the cap 42 is positioned with posts 80 extending vertically and then blade 38, spacer 34, blade 30, and base 10 are sequentially deposited on the posts so that the posts 80 extend through the corresponding apertures in those members. After alignment by positioning blade edges 32 and 40 against aligning surfaces 88 and 90, the assembly is firmly clamped together and the upper ends of posts 80 are cold headed to secure the components of the blade unit together.

Apparatus which sequentially performs these steps is shown in FIG. 3. As indicated in that figure, a transport belt is supported on spaced shafts 102, 103 which in turn are secured to support members 104, 105. A series of nest structures 106 are secured to transport belt 100. The nest structures are sequentially moved past a series of stations that include a cap loading station 110, a first blade loading station 112, a spacer loading station 114, a second blade-loading station 116, abase member loading station 118, an alignment and cold heading station 120, and an unloading station 122. The transport belt 100 and the mechanisms at the several stations are driven in coordination by drive unit diagrammatically indicated at 124 which includes drives for the cam shaft 126 and for indexing the transport belt 100.

Cap members 42 are fed from supply 130 along track 132 to transfer mechanism 134 which loads a cap mem ber 42 into each nest structure where it is clamped in position with posts 80 extending vertically. Sensor 136 photoelectrically senses the presence of upstanding posts 80 of a cap member 42 in each nest. At station 112, a stack of blades 38 is disposed in supply channel 140. The bottom blade of the stack is engaged by slide mechanism 142 which transfers that blade to a transfer mechanism 144 which in turn deposits the blade on posts 80 of cap member 42 secured in the nest 106 at that station. At station 114 a spacer member 34 is transferred from supply along track 152 to transfer mechanism 154 for deposit in similar manner on posts 80. At station 116, a second (loading) blade 30 is transferred, in a manner similar to that of station 112, by slide member 142 from supply channel 140' to transfer mechanism 144 for loading onto the spacer member 34 on posts 80 of the cap member 42 held in the nest at that station. Abase member 10 is transferred from supply 156 along track 158 to transfer mechanism 160 for loading onto the posts 80 of the cap member at station 118; and the presence of base structure on the stack of components is then detected by sensor 162 as the nest is indexed past that sensor.

As indicated above, at station 120, the blade elements 30 and 38 and base 10 are aligned with respect to alignment surfaces 54, 88 and 90 of cap member 42, and then the blade unit assembly is clamped together and the posts 80 are deformed in a cold heading operation to secure the components of the blade unit assembly together. The belt 100 is then indexed to transfer the blade unit to unloading station 122 where transfer mechanism 164 removes the assembled blade unit from its nest 106 and places it on transfer conveyor 166 for transport to another area for further processing such as inspection and packaging.

A persepctive view of a nest assembly is shown in FIG. 4. That nest assembly 106 includes a surface 180 configured to conform to the configuration of surface 44 of cap member 42 which is arranged to receive cap member 42 in supporting relation. Spaced from one end of support surface 180 is fixed post 182 and spaced from the other end is post 184 which is mounted for rotation about axis 186, post 184 being biased for rotation by compression spring 188 which acts between the lower end-of post 184 and the body of nest assembly to rotate the upper end of post 184 towards post 182. Side plates 190 and 912 define side walls of the nest assembly. Projecting above side plate 192 are two structures 194, 196 which support the projecting wings 86 of the cap member 42 when it is clamped in the nest. Alignment bushings 198, offset laterally from sideplate 192, are arranged to receive alignment pins from transfer mechanisms at stations 110, 114 and 1 18 so that the component being loaded into the nest is disposed in proper alignment with components of and/or in the nest. A shaft 202 extends through side plates 190 and 192 along axis 186 and is secured to post 184. A cam lever 204 is secured to shaft 202 and is arranged to rock end post 184 in a counterclockwise direction (compressing spring 188) to move the upper end of post 184 outwardly to permit insertion of cap member 42 or removal of an assembled blade unit. The space at either end of surface 180 between that surface and the posts 184, 184 receives the end surfaces 46 of the cap member 42.

As indicated above, each blade loading station includes an inclined guide channel 140 in which is disposed a stack of blade elements; a slide mechanism 142 which is reciprocal in guideways for transferring the lowermost blade in the stack in channel 140 from that stack and a transfer mechanism 144 which is vertically reciprocated by a drive mechanism to receive the transferred blade from slide mechanism 142 and then deposit the blade on posts 80 of a cap member 42 held in a nest 106. The spacer 34, a second blade 30 and base member are deposited in similar manner at stations 114, 116 aand 118, respectively.

Details of the mechanism at the alignment and securing station 120 may be seen with reference to FIGS. 5-8. The apparatus at that station includes a support framework 250 with upstanding wall members 252 and cross member 254 which carries shaft 256 to which the upper end of a toggle linkage including links 258 and 260 is attached. Shaft 262 couples links 258 and 260 together and is connected to coupling 264 which is driven by rod 266. The lower end of link 260 is pinned to drive block 268 by shaft 270. Block 268 is received and guided for vertical reciprocation in a channel in frame member 272 and carries four spaced cold heading members 274 that extend vertically downward from the bottom surface of block 268. I

Mounted forvertical movement parallel to block 268 is a clamping mechnism that includes two blocks .280, 282 that have interengaged flanges 284, 286, respectively. Clamping springs 288 urge blocks 280, 282 apart. A coupling structure 290 (FIG. 6) secured to the rear of upper block 280 is connected by means of pin 292 to drive linkage 294 which is mounted for rotation about pin 296. Clamp finger structure 298 extends downwardly from the lower end of block 282.

A second arm 300 of drive link 294 is coupled by pin 301 to link 302, the other end of which is coupled by pin 304 to drive member 306. Auxiliary support links 308, each mounted for pivoting movement on a support shaft 310, have apertures 312 through which shaft 304 extends. Drive rod 314 is threadedly attached to drive member 306 and fixed in position relative thereto by lock 316. Rod 314 passes through a bore in member 318 of clamp structure 320, and is latched to member 318 by retainer disc 322. Member 318 includes two grooves 324 which receive the inside portions of plates 326 that are secured to fixed support structure 328. Thus, parallel support plates 326 define a track along which clamp structure 320 slides. Member 318 further includes two flanges 330 at its base, each of which has a bore through it. Mounted for sliding movement on clamp structure 320 are two bias pads 332, each of which has a forward surface 334 and a rearwardly extending shaft 336. Each shaft 336 passes through a corresponding bore in a flange 330. A leaf spring 338 engages the ends of shafts 336 and provides a biasing force tending to space bias pads 332 forward of surface 340 of the support member 318.

Rod 314 also passes through a hole in plate 342 and carries a spring 334 and washer 346. Spring 344 urges the sliding clamp structure 320 to the right as viewed in FIG. 6 against retainer disc 322. Stop nut 348 mounted on shaft rod 314 is arranged to engage support plate 342 to limit the movement of drive rod 314.

Also at station 120 is aligning structure 350 which includes two nozzles 352, each having a 1/16 inch I.D. outlet orifice that is spaced apart about 0.050 inch from the components of the blade unit held in the nest 106, the nozzles being aligned with recesses 56 and 92 in the base and cap members, respectively.

In operation, when a nest 106 is in position at station 120, clamp drive link 294 is rotated to move clamp members 298 down towards the components of the blade unit in the nest and to move bias pad 332 forward to engage surface 360 of guard 18 as shown in FIG. 8. The leaf spring 338 in this position applies a prebiasing load of about 10-50 grams to guard surface 360 tending to tilt the base structure 10 as indicated in FIG. 8. Air pressure is applied through nozzles 350 (at pressure of 60 psi) tending to further lift the base 10. The bias pads 332 maintain aligning surface 52 of each wingin contact with the mating surface 54 of the cap 42 while the engagement of the edges of apertures 50 with posts at point 362 limits the amount that the base 10 can tilt in this motion. The air blast forces the sharpened edges 32, 40 of the blades 30, 38 against reference surfaces 88, 90, respectively, in an aligning operation. Additinal clamp force (about 8 pounds) is then applied to drive rod 314 so that the bias pads 332 seat against surface 340 to further urge the aligning surface 52 into engagement with surface 54. At the same time, the clamping plate 280 is moved downwardly so that clamp members 298 engage surface 364 of the base member 10 with a clamping force of 22 pounds. After these clamping forces have been applied, the cold heading tools 274 are moved downward by operation of the toggle mechanism (links 258, 260) to distort the tops of posts 80 as indicated in FIG. 9 to secure the components of the blade unit together. The blades are secured in proper position against their respective aligning surfaces by clamping pressure provided by the deformed posts 80 and by the ridges 94 in the cap 42'and corresponding ridges in the base member 10.

After this operation, the nest is transferred to station 122 where the clamping lever 204 is rotated to release clamping pressure on the assembled blade unit in the nest 106 and then the blade unit is removed and transferred to conveyor 166.

The timing diagram shown in FIG. 10 indicates the timing relationships of the several drive cams employed in the coordinated indexing and operation of the several stations in this system. The motion of the cam that controls the indexing of nests 106 is indicated at 400, the nests being indexed from one station to the next as the cam moves from to 180 as indicated by portion 402. The path of the cam that controls the transfer or loading mechanism at the cap loading station 110 is indicated at 404 and the motion of the pickup cam at station 110 is indicated at 406. A cap is picked up by the pickup head when it is in position as indicated at 408 and that head is moved as indicated by line 410 to a transfer position 412. The transfer head is moved into position (414) to accept the cap from the pickup head and then raised to position 416. After the pickup head is returned to the pickup position (line 408), the transfer head is lowered to the position indicated at line 420 to deposit a cap in the nest 106. As the transfer head lowers, it engages the lever 204 to rotate the end post 184 and as it rises (line 422) the end post is rotated by spring 188 to clamp the deposited cap member in the nest. Vacuum is applied at point 426 and released at point 428.

Motions of the slide and transfer mechanisms at the blade loading stations 112 and 116 are indicated at 430 and 432, respectively. Line 434 indicates the lateral motion of the slide 142 from the supply channel 140 to the transfer mechanism 144. While the slide is in the position indicated by line 436, the transfer mechanism is moved down about 0.010 inch towards the slide member 142 as indicated by line 438, picks up the blade during the interval indicated by line .440, and then is retracted as indicated by line 442. Vacuum is turned off slide 142 at point 444 and applied to transfer member 144 at point 446 so that a blade is transferred from the slide to the transfer head. After transfer head has been raised away from slide member 142 (line 442), the slide is retracted, as indicated by line 448, to its initial position in alignment with the supply channel 140 as indicated by line 450. As indicated by line 452, the transfer structure is lowered 2 H16 inches and the blade is deposited on the posts 80 of the cap member with vacuum being released at point 454. After deposit, transfer structure 144 is returned to its initial position as indicated by line 456.

Deposit of the spacer 34 at station 114 is indicated by lines 460 and 462, the motion being similar to the cap deposit operations indicated at lines 404 and 406; and the base is loaded at station 118 under controls of cams whose travels indicated by line 464, 466, that motion also being similar to the operation at cap loading station 110.

The cams indicated by lines 470, 472 and 474 control operations at the cold heading station 120 (alignment and securing). The cam indicated by line 470 controls the motion of toggle drive member 266; the cam indicated by line 472 controls the clamping motion provided by lever 294; and the cam indicated by line 474 controls application of air pressure to nozzles 352. As the nest is being indexed into position at the station 120, lever 294 starts to rotate as indicated by line 476 to apply a prebias force at point 478. The aligning air blast is applied at 480 to force the blades 30, 38 against their reference surfaces 88, and toggle mechanism drive 266 is started at point 482. Additional clamping force is applied as indicated by line 484 and after the full clamping force is applied (line 486) the full travel of the toggle mechanism is reached at point 488 to cold head the posts 80 as indicated in FIG. 9.

The motion of the blade unit lifting mechanism at unloading station 122 is controlled by the cam indicated by line 490 and the motion of the transfer mechanism is controlled by the cam indicated by line 492. The blade assembly is picked up when the lift cam is in the position 494 and raised to transfer the assembly to the transfer head at point 496. The transfer head then rotates as indicated by the line 498 to transfer the assembly to the output conveyor as indicated at line 500.

Thus is will be noted that operations are concurrently being performed at each of the stations during the interval of cam travel from 180 to 360 at which point the nests 106 on belt are stopped. During each such interval, a cap member is loaded into and clamped in one nest (line 404), blades are being deposited in two other nests (line 432), a spacer member is being deposited in a fourth nest (line 462), a base member is being deposited in still another nest (line 466); the componentsv of the assembly are being aligned and clamped together in still another nest (lines 470, 472 and 474); and the blade unit is removed from still another nest (line 490).

Thus the invention provides methods for assembling components of a multiple blade unit which achieves a desired precise geometry in an efficient and economical manner in a system that can be operated reliably and at mass production speeds.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art and therefore it is not intended that the invention be limited to the disclosed embodiment or to details thereof and departures may be made therefrom within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for assembling a blade unit having a plurality of housing components and a plurality of blade components, said housing components have cooperating housing alignment surfaces and blade alignment surfaces, comprising:

support structure for holding a first housing compo nent, first clamp structure for applying an aligning force to a second housing component to place the cooperating housing alignment surfaces of said first and second housing components in engagement,

second clamp structure for applying a clamping force to said housing components to clamp said blade components between said first and second housing components,

securing structure for modifying a portion of at least one of said housing components for permanently securing said first and second housing components with interposed blade components together as a unit,

and common drive structure for operating said first and second clamp structure and said securing structure in coordinated relation to align, clamp and secure said housing components to form said blade unit.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said blade component is a planar blade member that has a sharpened cutting edge, and further including blade alignment structure for generating a force against an edge surface of each said planar blade member, said force tending to urge each said planar blade member forward to position the sharpened cutting edge of said planar blade member against said blade alignment surface.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further including blade alignment structure for urging said blade components against said blade alignment surfaces, said blade alignment structure including means for applying fluid pressure to said blade components for urging said blade components against said blade alignment surfaces. v

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said housing components has a plurality of apertures and the other of said housing components has a plurality of posts that extend through said apertures in said one housing component,

and said securing structure includes means for deforming said posts in a cold heading operation to secure said first and second housing components together.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said second clamp structure includes a member for applying clamp force generally parallel to the axes of said posts.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first clamp structure imposes said aligning force on said second housing component at an angle greater than to the direction of application of clamping force imposed by said second clamp structure.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first clamp structure includes means for imposing an initial aligning force of low magnitude to the second housing componentand a subsequent clamping force of magnitude at least ten times the magnitude of said initial aligning force.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first clamp structure is mounted for movement between first and second positions and includes a support member, a clamping member carried by said support member and movable relative thereto, said clamping member having a clamp portion adapted to engage said second housing component, and biasing means for maintaining said second portion spaced from said support member when said clamp structure is in said first position, said first clamp structure being movable to a posilid tion intermediate said first and second positions where said clamp portion is in engagement with said second housing component and said clamping member is shifted relative to said support member so that said biasing means applies said aligning force to said second housing component.

ill. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said first clamp structure imposes said aligning force on said second housing component at an angle greater than 25 to the direction of application of clamping force imposed by said second clamp structure.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein said second clamp structure includes a drive member, a clamping member and biasing means interposed between said drive and clamping members for resiliently urging said members apart, said clamping member carrying a plurality of spaced clamping elements and said drive member being connected to said drive structure.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein said second clamp structure and said securing structure are mounted for reciprocating movement along parallel paths.

M. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein one of said housing components has a plurality of apertures and the other of said housing components has a plurality of posts that extend through said apertures in said one housing component,

and said securing structure includes means for deforming said posts in a cold heading operation to secure said first and second housing components together.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein said first clamp structure is mounted for reciprocating movement between said first and second positions, said suppprt member has a seating surface, said clamping member has a second surface, said biasing means maintains said second surface spaced from said support member seating surface when said clamp structure is in said first position and further including a drive member, and second biasing means coupled between said drive member and said support member, said first clamp structure being movable to said second position where said clamping member is further shifted relative to said support member so that said second surface is in engagement with said seating surface and said second biasing means applies said subsequent clamping force to said second housing component.

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein each said blade component is a planar blade member that has a sharpened cutting edge, and further including blade alignment structure for generating a force against an edge surface of each planar blade member, said force tending to urge each said planar blade member forward to position the sharpened cutting edge of said planar blade member against said blade alignment surface.

17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16 wherein said blade alignment structure includes means for applying fluid pressure to said blade components for urging said blade components against said blade alignment srufaces.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,795,9 5 a Dated March 12 197 Inventor-(3) EVEIGtt L. Sherman It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 27, "relations" should be --rela.t1on--';

line 32, "lnventin" should be --1nvent1on--.

Column 2, line 49 "borken" should be -broken--. Column 3, line 9 "2" should be --a--. Column 5, line 12, "912" should be --192-;

" line &3, "alignment" should be --align1ng--=.

Column 6, line 23, "33 1" should be "3 4";

line 41, "10-50" should be 40-50-;

line 52, ditinal" should be --ditiona1--. Column 8, line 47 "have" should be -having--. Column 10 line 55 after "each" insert -sa1d--.

si ned and sealed this 16th day of July 1971 (SEAL) Attest':

MCCOY M. GIBSON, JR. c. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents USCOMM'DC GOS'IGIPBP a v.5, oovcmmnn PIIHYING emu: x lino-"hall.

FORM PO-'\ 050 (10-591 

1. Apparatus for assembling a blade unit havinG a plurality of housing components and a plurality of blade components, said housing components have cooperating housing alignment surfaces and blade alignment surfaces, comprising: support structure for holding a first housing component, first clamp structure for applying an aligning force to a second housing component to place the cooperating housing alignment surfaces of said first and second housing components in engagement, second clamp structure for applying a clamping force to said housing components to clamp said blade components between said first and second housing components, securing structure for modifying a portion of at least one of said housing components for permanently securing said first and second housing components with interposed blade components together as a unit, and common drive structure for operating said first and second clamp structure and said securing structure in coordinated relation to align, clamp and secure said housing components to form said blade unit.
 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said blade component is a planar blade member that has a sharpened cutting edge, and further including blade alignment structure for generating a force against an edge surface of each said planar blade member, said force tending to urge each said planar blade member forward to position the sharpened cutting edge of said planar blade member against said blade alignment surface.
 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further including blade alignment structure for urging said blade components against said blade alignment surfaces, said blade alignment structure including means for applying fluid pressure to said blade components for urging said blade components against said blade alignment surfaces.
 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said housing components has a plurality of apertures and the other of said housing components has a plurality of posts that extend through said apertures in said one housing component, and said securing structure includes means for deforming said posts in a cold heading operation to secure said first and second housing components together.
 5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said second clamp structure includes a member for applying clamp force generally parallel to the axes of said posts.
 6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second clamp structure and said securing structure are mounted for reciprocating movement along parallel paths.
 7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second clamp structure includes a drive member, a clamping member and biasing means interposed between said drive and clamping members for resiliently urging said members apart, said clamping member carrying a plurality of spaced clamping elements and said drive member being connected to said drive structure.
 8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first clamp structure imposes said aligning force on said second housing component at an angle greater than 25* to the direction of application of clamping force imposed by said second clamp structure.
 9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first clamp structure includes means for imposing an initial aligning force of low magnitude to the second housing component and a subsequent clamping force of magnitude at least ten times the magnitude of said initial aligning force.
 10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first clamp structure is mounted for movement between first and second positions and includes a support member, a clamping member carried by said support member and movable relative thereto, said clamping member having a clamp portion adapted to engage said second housing component, and biasing means for maintaining said second portion spaced from said support member when said clamp structure is in said first position, said first clamp structure being movable to a position intermediate said first and second positions where sAid clamp portion is in engagement with said second housing component and said clamping member is shifted relative to said support member so that said biasing means applies said aligning force to said second housing component.
 11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said first clamp structure imposes said aligning force on said second housing component at an angle greater than 25* to the direction of application of clamping force imposed by said second clamp structure.
 12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein said second clamp structure includes a drive member, a clamping member and biasing means interposed between said drive and clamping members for resiliently urging said members apart, said clamping member carrying a plurality of spaced clamping elements and said drive member being connected to said drive structure.
 13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein said second clamp structure and said securing structure are mounted for reciprocating movement along parallel paths.
 14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein one of said housing components has a plurality of apertures and the other of said housing components has a plurality of posts that extend through said apertures in said one housing component, and said securing structure includes means for deforming said posts in a cold heading operation to secure said first and second housing components together.
 15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein said first clamp structure is mounted for reciprocating movement between said first and second positions, said suppprt member has a seating surface, said clamping member has a second surface, said biasing means maintains said second surface spaced from said support member seating surface when said clamp structure is in said first position and further including a drive member, and second biasing means coupled between said drive member and said support member, said first clamp structure being movable to said second position where said clamping member is further shifted relative to said support member so that said second surface is in engagement with said seating surface and said second biasing means applies said subsequent clamping force to said second housing component.
 16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein each said blade component is a planar blade member that has a sharpened cutting edge, and further including blade alignment structure for generating a force against an edge surface of each planar blade member, said force tending to urge each said planar blade member forward to position the sharpened cutting edge of said planar blade member against said blade alignment surface.
 17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16 wherein said blade alignment structure includes means for applying fluid pressure to said blade components for urging said blade components against said blade alignment srufaces. 